Dana White is not one to shy away from controversy – and he’s at it again. Apparently the crack-down on fighters messing around outside the ring has got to stop, and the man who exploits men and women willing to punch each other for a living is laying down the law. Perhaps he wants to be like the ancient Romans and Cesar. Perhaps Dana wants to be like Vince McMahon. What’s evident is that even though he outwardly expresses righteousness, his business is anything but that. Today, TJ Dillashaw was reported as being “fired” by Dana White, before this was disproven in a tweet, as seen below, and Ariel Helwani is reporting that TJ has retired.
https://twitter.com/mikebohn/status/1599905021583577088?s=46&t=GuJb6CLXfVSrfa1GRb2RMgTJ Dillashaw has decided to retire. The UFC was notified around a week and a half ago.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 6, 2022
@The_MDubb first reported the news.
Here’s more, from my car, on what happened: pic.twitter.com/goxUGdgYWw
As per MMA Fighting, Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw still believes he can be champion again, especially if Aljamain Sterling is holding the belt.
Despite a first-round loss to Sterling at UFC 280, Dillashaw isn’t ready to concede “Funkmaster” is the best bantamweight in the world. If he did, he wouldn’t appear as tough as what he masquerades. Were it not for the shoulder injury that lost their early fight, “Dilly” believes he would have captured the belt a third time. He previously called Sterling the “most beatable” champ on the UFC’s roster. Them’s are some fightin’ words there Dilly.
He said:
“I feel like he was gifted the belt to begin with, the way he handled it, and then got squeaked by with a win [in a rematch with ex-champ Petr Yan at UFC 273],” the ex-champ said on The MMA Hour. “Look man, he’s a great athlete, he’s on a great win streak, he’s gotten to the top, but I don’t think he’s the best champion we’ve got out there. I don’t think he’s the best in the division, especially in the division we have, and that was an opportunity I wasn’t going to let slip through my fingers, even though it did. But yes, my opinion does not changed.”
Asked who in the UFC’s roster would beat Sterling, Dillashaw pointed to inside the champ’s circle.
“I think his teammate, Merab (Dvalishvili), beats him,” Dillashaw said. “He does have some strengths. There’s guys at the top that he can beat because their grappling isn’t where it should be. So maybe I’m just thinking about it personally and how I match up against him, because he matches up great against some of the guys that won’t be able to deal with his wrestling. So he could get some good wins and stay on top with the right matchups, but he’s not very dangerous. He’s not a guy that’s going to come and knock you out. He will try to dry-hump you to the best of his ability, for the most part.”
So, there you have it. Bold words from a bold man. Time will tell if he recaptures the title.
